CHAPTER NEWS REPORTS
Central Chapter to Host 2006 SDCA Conference – by President Jean Blonigen
Central Chapter is very excited about being a host for the Spring Conference on April 20-22, 2006. We would like to invite you to come to Pierre and have a great time with your fellow counselors.
A planning meeting was held on August 4th at Bob’s Steakhouse outside of Gettysberg. Nine members (Kim Goebel, Char Nickolas, Bev Penn, Heidi Lundborg, Kris Sanchez, Kim Rogers, Patty Peacock, Jolaine Bain, and Jean Blonigen) and two honorary guests (Mark Peacock and Taniel Penn) were present.
Goal setting for the 2005-2006 year was discussed and the following goals were set up. Goal #1 was to increase membership by 10 members. Letters will be sent out to prospective members and members are encouraged to invite possible members for meetings and activities. Our second goal was to conduct a community service activity, which will be done by bringing toiletries to meetings where they can be divided for the domestic abuse shelters for Eagle Butte, Pierre and Mobridge. Four meeting times including a social event were set up as our third goal. We will meet on September 13th at the St. Charles Restaurant at 5:30 PM for our first meeting. Our second meeting will be a fun social to see the Christmas trees at the state capitol and have a relaxing time at Char Nickolas’ house. In January we will meet during the Day on the Hill and before the Spring Conference on April 19th. A Fun Day is being planned for May. Our fourth goal was to establish incentives for members. It was agreed to provide two $25 stipends to help pay expenses for two members to attend the Day on the Hill activities. After discussion it was decided that an Awards Chairman would not be needed for the chapter, but all members would do it at the January meeting. The sixth goal was to establish a membership chairperson for the chapter. The consensus was that this should be a duty of the past president. Planning was also done for the Spring Conference for April 20th, 21st, and 22nd.
If you have any questions about Central Chapter, please contact Jean Blonigen at 114 East 10th Street, Mobridge 57601 or at Jean.Blonigen@k12.sd.us .
Lewis & Clark Chapter Sponsored Supervision Workshop
Summer is typically a time of easy living and few organized events, but Lewis & Clark Chapter decided to coordinate a CEU-bearing workshop this summer for its members and other interested SDCA folks.
Lewis & Clark Chapter sponsored a Counselor Supervision workshop on June 17 on the USD Campus. Dr. Jim Korcuska, USD School of Education faculty and SDCA member, facilitated the workshop. The smaller number of group participants made interaction among attendees more engaging. Hopefully, summer workshops can be an ongoing program for Lewis & Clark!
In other news, I am resigning my position as president of Lewis & Clark Chapter to move to northern Kentucky, where I've accepted a position at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights. NKU and Highland Heights are part of the metro Cincinnati, OH area. While I look forward to the great opportunities there, I'll sorely miss all my SDCA friends. I've enjoyed my professional associations with this group over the past many years.
Our Lewis & Clark Chapter will be in good hands as Wendy Stubbs (Past President) and Cathy Flum (President Elect) helping to coordinate activities this year.
Thanks for the memories, colleagues and best of everything.
North Central Chapter Announces First Meeting - by Gerta Bardhoshi, President
The North Central Chapter would like to take this opportunity to introduce its officers and announce upcoming activities. The new president, Gerta Bardhoshi and new Vice president, Amanda Carter, both Northern State University graduate counseling students, would like to welcome our members back and express our excitement to getting re-acquainted with some of you, and meeting some new members as well. Angel Vermillion, our secretary and counselor for the Roncalli junior/senior high school and Becky Kuch, our treasurer and counselor for NSU’s Counseling Center are also on board for this year and look forward to making our time together fun and educational.
For our first meeting, we are scheduled to meet on October 27th, at 5:00 P.M. right after the Insoo Kim Berg conference at the Coffee Smith (1124 S Washington St, across from the NSU campus). Come socialize over a cup of coffee and listen to our knowledgeable speakers, Dr. Kelly Duncan and Jill Stephenson discuss topics such as the LPC practice law and national certification for school counselors respectively. These are important issues for our profession and you are all encouraged to participate and ask questions.
We will also discuss upcoming meetings and scheduling and fresh ideas will be especially appreciated. This is your time to be involved and let us know what you want our chapter to offer. We hope to see you there! Questions? Email Gerta Bardhoshi at bardhog@wolves.northern.edu
Sioux Chapter Welcomes Members – by President Kurt Turbak
Welcome, and yes you are invited to participate and get involved in another year of activities provided by the Sioux Chapter. Last year was an exciting year for the Chapter with growth in our membership and receiving the Chapter of the Year Award from SDCA. This year the goal for our Chapter is to sustain our membership and increase participation in our Chapter events.
The Sioux Chapter Executive Committee met at the end of July and developed an array of activities for all members to get involved, renew friendships, network and develop new relationships. The Fall Mixer will be held on Friday September 9 at 4:00 – 6:00 pm at Minerva’s. Please take the time and join us to reconnect with old friends and meet new members. Other events being planned are the wellness program, an agency breakfast in October, a holiday get together in December, a community service project in February, SDCA convention in April and our ice cream social meeting in May.
As you can see there are many events in which you may get involved and participate! So, if you haven’t had a chance to renew your membership for this coming year, don’t miss out. Look on the SDCA website for a membership form or contact any of the Sioux Chapter Officers:
Kurt Turbak, President
Andree Johnson, Past President
Jess Paulson. President Elect
John Hegg and Deb Harkless, Co-Treasurer
Kara Williams and Pat Peters, Co- Secretary
Sue Albert and Laura Schuldt, Co-Membership Chair
Pat Brady and Andrea Bjornestad, Co- Historians
Lots of Changes West River - by Beverly Dafler, President
Based on the responses of those counselors who attended the Counselor Breakfast at WDTI on May 21st, the WRCA chapter has decided to focus on providing three CEU opportunities for the coming year. A meeting was held at Beverly’s house on August 18th to begin to work on the specifics. Since summer is definitely not the season to hold meetings, only Shirley Andrews was able to attend. Beverly and Shirley decided to present three Saturday morning workshops, each for three CEU’s, and each on the topic of ethics. Beverly is to find a speaker and submit the CEU form for the first one in October. This workshop will be held at WDTI, and the topic will on ethical issues in court testimony from the legal perspective. The presenter will be a local lawyer. The second workshop will be held in November at WDTI and will be a review of ethical issues for school and professional counselors. The third workshop will be held in the spring and will cover ethical issues in counseling the culturally different. Dates and speakers are being lined up and will be released as soon as possible.
Marcia Price, this year’s SDCA President, has moved to Spearfish and will be the new high school counselor at the local high school this coming school year. Stacey Haugrud, the former WRCA President, is moving to Sioux Falls quite soon and plans to get involved with that local chapter. Nancy Kennedy, Secretary/Treasurer, had surgery this month and should be convalescent enough to pick up her duties as Hill City High School Counselor when school starts this month.